Preston North End and Liverpool legend Bill Shankly an inspiration to new Deepdale boss Ryan Lowe

It gives the 43-year-old his first chance to work in the Championship after forging a reputation in Leagues One and Two at Plymouth and Bury.

Lowe guided both of those clubs to promotion from League Two and leaves the Pilgrims firmly in the League One promotion hunt.

He succeeds Frankie McAvoy in the Deepdale hotseat after the Scot’s dismissal on Monday night.

PNE worked quickly to get Lowe, agreeing compensation with Plymouth and sorting out a deal with him.

Mike Marsh comes in as his assistant manager, with Paul Gallagher and Steve Thompson continuing to work on the coaching staff.

Lowe told the Lancashire Post: “I know about the history and tradition of this club, I’m a big Liverpool fan and Bill Shankly was here – someone we all have a high regard for.

“I’ve been to many Preston North End games down the years, paying to watch.

“If on a Tuesday night I wanted to watch a game of football, this is one of the places I would come to.

“A big attraction was the chance to come and work with Peter Ridsdale and Craig Hemmings.

“I don’t want to blow too much smoke up Peter but he’s been there, seen it, done it.

“In football you want to work with football-minded people, be around them.

“Looking at the squad, the club , the way it is run, it’s perfect for me.”

Lowe is excited by the challenge of managing in the Championship, his first game in charge being Barnsley’s visit to Deepdale on Saturday.

He knows it is a big job in front of him but it’s one he is relishing.

Said Lowe: “I’m under no illusions about managing in the Championship.

“It’s a different animal and one I have studied a lot of late.

“I’m come out of League Two and made the transition to League One, now it’s the challenge of the Championship.

“I look at what we’ve done at Plymouth, we brought it back and had good times.

“We were getting 6,000 or 7,000 crowds to start with, recently the ground has nearly been full.

“My job is to win matches, bring the excitement back so the fans have something to shout and scream about.”

Lowe is on a rolling contract rather than a fixed-term one.

Club director Ridsdale said: “As with all our managers, on day one we say this is what happens when someone comes in to try and get you and this is what happens if we fall out. Hopefully it will be many years before we have to open the drawer and get the contract out.”